Bhubaneswar: The fate of the plan to develop the Bhubaneswar railway station as a world class hub hangs in the balance.
The Railways has decided to pull out of its agreement with the Odisha government and go it alone.
Notably, the state government and East Coast Railway (ECoR) had signed a MoU in September 2019. According to the pact, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and ECoR were to jointly execute the proposed project at a cost of Rs 910 crore.
Of this, amount the Railways was to spend around Rs 70 crore for adding two more tracks and one platform. The government was to spend around Rs 840 crore to build the multimodal hub under the Smart City project.
But now, the ECoR wants the Odisha government to revise the terms of the MoU. The ECoR General Manager has also informed the Odisha government of the decision.
Rlys Miffed
Insiders said the ECoR is miffed at the slow progress of work and cost escalation of the project to Rs 1075crore, which is around Rs 165 crore higher than the original estimate..
“According to the MoU, the hub was to be completed in 30 months (i.e. March 2022). But no tender has been floated even after 24 months. Further delay would also lead to cost escalation and this is why we have decided to do the development of the railway portion on our own,” an ECoR official was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.
Change In MoU
Chief Secretary Suresh Mahapatra said the state government is also willing to revise the terms of agreement. “The Railways want to develop its part of the project and exclude it from the agreement. Therefore, the MoU will be revised,’” he said.
Mahapatra, however, added that ECOR’s plan to go it alone won’t affect the overall project. “The development outside the station will be done under the Smart City project,” he clarified.
